At some point with the development of a vaccine or an effective treatment, the economy will come back to normal. And when it does, so too will opposition to automation, at a time when we will need productivity more than ever to shrink the now massive debt-to-GDP ratio.

Digital technology adoption has spread rapidly through the economy, revolutionizing many processes. A new study examines how this change has taken place, interviewing 1,700 companies across the United States and European Union.

Demonstrating the commercial viability of new technologies for deep decarbonization requires federal funding. But the government’s past record is decidedly mixed. So Congress should increase funding for demonstration projects while reforming how they are administered.

In short: no. Profits are difficult to measure accurately, but the best method is to focus on domestic earnings outside the financial sector as a share of net value added. By that measure, the long-term trend has been in decline.

The COVID crisis has shifted the data privacy debate away from its prior focus on individual rights to one more focused on collective needs and responsibilities—for example, when it comes to sharing and analyzing medial data related to the pandemic, or tracking individuals’ contacts. Rob and Jackie discuss these issues with noted scholar and public intellectual Amitai Etzioni.

The trade ban limits the ability of U.S. companies to effectively participate in standards setting organizations whenever Huawei is present. This constraint only hurts U.S. competitiveness with no clear benefit and should have been addressed by the Department of Commerce long ago.

The global community will only be able to overcome the coronavirus pandemic through intense collaboration, turbocharged innovation, and open trade, uninhibited by artificial barriers or restrictions—particularly when comes to medical supplies and research data.

Daniel Moynihan once stated that “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.” This is no more true than with today’s debate over the health of U.S. manufacturing; a debate that is critical to get right if policy makers are to respond appropriately.